Resealable label flaps are commonly used with many different types of product packages. One common type of package that utilizes a resealable label flap includes packaged sheet-like removable articles that have been thoroughly wetted with a liquid prior to packaging. This specific product package is generally constructed from a thin, flexible, liquid-impervious material that has an opening over which the label flap is removably adhered. Typically, the label flap attached to the package is a strip of flexible or semi-rigid thermoplastic material having a removable pressure-sensitive adhesive applied to one surface of the label flap. The removable adhesive creates a generally air-tight seal around the package opening to prevent the packaged removable articles from drying out during storage.
In packaging of the type described above, as the articles are removed, a top surface of the flexible package may become deformed or waved. As a result, when an attempt is made to reattach the label flap to the package after opening, the label flap cannot be properly attached to the top of the package to create a seal around the package opening. In such situations, it is desirable to utilize a more rigid material for the resealable label flap and to incorporate a frame surrounding the resealable flap, which maintains the shape of the package better than conventional label flaps and ensures consistent proper sealing of the package. Bending a more rigid, pivotally secured label flap to access the opening in a package is more difficult than the use of a more flexible label flap.
One known container having a resealable label flap made of material which is stiffer than the container is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 6,026,953 to Nakamura et al. The '953 patent discloses a single layer reinforcing sheet of between 100 and 130 micrometers having a cut line that defines a movable label flap with a starting tab. A crease is formed in the reinforcing sheet by the means of a press. The crease serves to define a hinge used in the opening and closing of the flap. The crease prevents the disengagement of the label flap from the reinforcing sheet. The problem with this approach is that creases in stiff, rigid materials do not form good hinges. A hard crease will create a hinge that bends easily, but the material tends to break at the hinge. A soft crease will create a hinge that bends hard, and resists bending back on reclosure of the label flap.